by A. L Long
“Not anymore,” I replied as I headed to the bathroom and closed the door, leaving him to ponder my response.
Even though I was starving, I couldn’t spend any more time with Lou. As much as I wanted to, there was no way I could risk him learning more about me.
~****~
I didn’t know how I managed to do it, but I was able to convince Lou that he didn’t need to walk me to my motel. Maybe it was the fact that I was no more than a few blocks from him. He, of course, didn’t know this, but when I said, “The motel isn’t far,” he let it go. The only thing that I wanted to do was try and find a place near the Park Lane Hotel. Something fully furnished would be good.
When I dug in the pocket of my uniform to pull out my key, I came up empty. The only thing that I could think of was that it must have fallen out at the park when I collapsed. Turning on my heels, I headed to the motel office to request another key. Just like the Park Lane Hotel, I knew that it wouldn’t be a big deal to code another key card so that I could gain access to my room.
After the gentleman at the front desk was kind enough to give me a new key, I headed back to my room to shower and then begin my search for a new place to live. As I was walking up the steps to my room, I had this sudden chill down my body. It was like someone was watching me or following me. When I peered over the balcony leading to my room, there was a young guy standing below me. I recognized him immediately.
Leaning over the edge of the iron rail, I said loudly so the guy could hear, “Hey, you.”
When he looked up at me, it was him, the guy from the streets by the name of TJ. I thought for sure he was long gone. He actually looked pretty good for a homeless person. I hadn’t seen him for several months. It made me wonder what he had been up to during that time. Heading back in the direction of the steps, I gazed down on him as he began walking in the same direction. By the time I got to the steps, he was already waiting for me at the base. As I descended the steps, his eyes were upon me with each step I took. Standing on the bottom step, I smiled up at him and asked, “It’s been a long time. How have you been?”
The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen TJ for more than eight months, and now he was here. How the heck could that be unless he had been following me? Not waiting for him to answer, I answered for him. “Wait, I know exactly how you have been. Have you been following me?”
“It’s not like that,” he replied.
“So, you can actually talk. All that time we were under that bridge, not once did you ever talk to me. So why are you here now?” I asked, needing answers that better be good, because following someone was just wrong.
“I saw you in the park with that guy. It wasn’t like I was stalking you. I just wanted to catch up. You were the only person who was nice to me from the streets. So, I followed you,” he explained.
Thinking that he was telling me the truth, I smiled at him. “Do you want to come up to my room? We could catch up there, or would you rather go to the coffee shop around the corner?” I didn’t know what made me offer to go to my room. Even though we spent time together under the bridge, I had no clue what he really was like. For all I knew he could be a really bad person.
“Your room is fine, unless you would rather go to the coffee shop.”
As I headed up the steps with TJ following behind, I began to wonder what it was that he really wanted. It didn’t look like he was hurting for money. Matter of fact, it looked like he had done well for himself. I could tell by the way he was dressed that he spared no expense on his clothing. Reaching my room, I swiped my key card and turned the handle. Entering the room first, I slung my bag on the bed and waited for TJ to close the door and take a seat. I could tell that he had a lot on his mind. Taking a seat on the bed, I was about to say something when he began.
“So, it looks as though you made it off the streets,” he said.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Looks like you’ve done pretty good as well,” I replied.
“Yeah, I just couldn’t stand living on the streets anymore. I knew that if I didn’t do something, I was going to die there. So, with the little money I had, I bought some clean clothes and began searching for a job. Come to find out, I was really good at solving problems. Got a job at one of those call centers where people call in for help. Now I’m the day manager, and making enough money and then some.” TJ paused before beginning again. “How about you? What are you doing now?”
“I work at the Park Lane Hotel as a maid. Even though it isn’t as prestigious as your job, I’ve been able to save some money to help out my mom, plus stay off the street.”
One thing I didn’t tell him was that the additional money I came into was a big part of it. That was something no one was ever going to find out. Seeing that the cupboard was still open from earlier, I walked over to it casually and pushed it shut. Continuing our conversation, we talked about growing up and how he was brought up in an orphanage and couldn’t stand it there anymore and ended up on the streets. TJ already knew about my past and the situation my mom left me in, so there wasn’t very much that he didn’t know.
Before he left, he handed me a small piece of paper with his cell number on it, requesting that we keep in touch. Taking the number from him, I knew then that the first thing I needed to do was get a cell phone of my own. Waiting just long enough for him to leave, I walked over to the safe and grabbed a few bills. Stuffing them in my pocket along with my key, my mind was set on finding a place where I could get a cell phone.
Heading down Madison, I spotted an electronics store where I knew they would have cell phones. Once inside the small store, I began searching for where the phones would be. Standing behind the counter that held an assortment of phones, a young guy was playing on his own cell. Getting his attention, I cleared my throat and asked, “Do you by chance sell reasonably priced cell phones that I could use for talking and texting?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he smiled, placing his cell in his pocket.
As he showed me different designs and features on cells, my mind was jumbled with information that it couldn’t possibly hold. Stopping the man before he showed me another phone, I said, frustrated and confused, “I really don’t need anything fancy. All I want is a simple phone that I can make calls or texts from. Nothing more.”
When I finally left the electronics store, I left with a cell phone with no added features which came with a two-year contract costing me thirty dollars a month. My one and only contact was the nursing home where my mother was being kept, which the young guy graciously entered into my phone for me. As soon as I got back to the hotel I would be entering TJ’s number, giving me two contact numbers.
The first thing I did when I got back to my room was call Red Oaks Nursing Home to check on my mom. Waiting for someone to pick up the phone, I sat at the small table and began once again flipping through the classifieds to find a place to live. Hearing the lady on the other end greet me with, “Red Oaks Nursing Home, how may I help you?” I waited patiently until she finished.
Taking a deep breath, hoping that this would be the day my mom would be able to speak with me, I asked confidently, “Can you please transfer me to Carolyn Atwood’s room?”
“Hold on. Let me make sure she’s in her room,” the lady responded.
Just when I was thinking she might have forgotten about me, she came back and said, “I’ll transfer you now.”
Even though there was no response on the other end, I could hear the sound of my mom’s breath on the other end. “Mom, it’s Emma. Are you there?”
“Do I know you?” she asked in a shallow tone.
“Yes, Mom. I’m your daughter, Emma.”
“Why would you say that? I don’t have a daughter. She died before she was even born.”
“Mom, it’s me, Emma,” I cried, trying to understand why she would think that I was dead. This was so much worse than before. At least before she knew me, even if it wasn’t as her daughter.
�
��You are not my daughter. She’s dead. Don’t you ever call me again.”
Before I could say another word, the line went dead. As I stared at the cell, I just couldn’t bring myself to dial the number again. All I could think about was curling up into a small ball and dying. How could this happen? After waiting so long just to hear her voice, finding out that in her mind I didn’t exist was beyond what I had expected. All I ever wanted was to have my mom back. But instead, I might have lost her forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gainer
Letting Emma go so easily probably wasn’t the best decision I had ever made. The minute she went through the door, I knew I should have stopped her, but then I held back thinking that this was going to be the best way to get her to open up to me. Looking out the living room window, I watched as she headed across the street and over to Central Park. I knew that she had to live close by, and it was about time I found out just where.
When I knew she was well out of sight, I slipped on my shoes, grabbed a shirt, and headed out of my apartment building to see if I could find out just where that somewhere might be. Crossing the street into the park’s entrance, I became aware of my surroundings, hoping that I didn’t wait too long to follow her. It was just then that I spotted her just over the bridge. Stopping, Emma rested her arms on the bridge wall and took a look over the edge. My guess was that she was stopping to admire the view.
As I watched her carefully from a safe distance, she began walking again, turning to her right once she was over the stone bridge. I really wasn’t sure where she was headed, but I continued to follow her nonetheless. My only regret was that I couldn’t get any closer to her without being seen. The way her hips moved with every step she took was enough to drive a man crazy. I was still amazed that she had never been with a man until me.
She soon exited the park and turned to her left, heading down Central Park West, where she crossed the street at 74th. I must have been following her for a good twenty minutes. If she lived in this vicinity, she had quite a commute on foot to the Park Lane Hotel. As she headed down the parking lot of a mediocre motel, I knew that she was at her destination. Keeping out of sight behind a tree, I watched her climb the only set of steps to the second floor of the motel. Now, not only did I know where she was living, but I also knew which room she was staying in.
While I waited until she got inside her room, she suddenly looked behind her as though she was waiting for someone to follow her. When she began nodding her head back and forth, I knew that she must have thought someone was behind her. Walking over to the balcony, Emma looked over the edge. Following her lead, I looked in the same direction to find that a man about my height, but with a smaller build, was standing below her looking up at her. Thinking that this guy might be a threat to her, I was just about ready to intervene when I could see that she was talking to the man and a smile came upon her face. I wasn’t sure who this guy was, but I was going to find out.
I held back behind the tree for a moment longer until the man and Emma began walking towards her room. When they both entered, it was the perfect chance to see what the hell was going on. Making my way across the parking lot, I headed up the steps towards her room. Standing just outside her door, I put my ear to the wood and concentrated on the conversation that was going on inside. I could only hear bits and pieces of what they were talking about. The only thing that I could make out was that they knew each other from the bridge, which made absolutely no sense to me. I also got the impression from the conversation that the guy lost his mom and was placed in some sort of orphanage. I really couldn’t give two shits about this guy. All I wanted was to know more about was Emma, but unfortunately nothing was said about her past. Evidently the guy already knew her pretty well, at least from what I could hear of their conversation.
Hearing enough, I thought it was best that I hightailed it out of there before I got caught. I didn’t need Emma to find out that I had been spying on her. She was already pretty closed off and the last thing I needed was for that door to be locked for good.
~****~
After a long shower and grabbing a bagel with ham and cheese, I was on my way to the shop. On the way, the only thing I could think about was Emma and the guy she was talking to in her motel room. The way it sounded after being with her yesterday, she hadn’t had any men friends, so it surprised me that she even knew any. This was something that I would need to bring up to her. I had to be very subtle with her or she would be suspicious of me knowing about her guest. I knew that I would be running into her sometime today, considering that Mike, Sly, and I were on security duty at the Park Lane Hotel. It would give me the chance to find out who he was.
~****~
We all decided to pile into Mike’s 4-Runner and head on over to the hotel. As we were getting ready to head out, Peter came out of the shop raising his hand, letting us know to hold up. I was riding shotgun so I rolled down my window to find out what was up. “What’s up, Peter?” I asked, just as confused as my bros.
“The report came back on the money that was found in the dead guy’s hotel room.” Peter paused as we concentrated on what he was telling us. “The only prints they found were from the dead guy.”
“Wouldn’t it be our luck that there wouldn’t be more on those bills,” Mike hissed.
“Not so fast,” Peter began, “There’s something else about those bills. They were counterfeit, and pretty good ones at that. My guess is whomever killed that guy was after something much bigger, otherwise they would have taken the money. Maybe whoever it was knew the bills were fake.”
“The police checked that room from top to bottom and there wasn’t anything else of value there. Maybe we need to take a closer look at the employees of the hotel,” Sly suggested.
“Those bills didn’t just make themselves. Maybe the dead guy was smart enough to keep the plates in a safe place,” I countered. “Maybe that is why he ended up dead.”
“Either way, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a closer eye on the employees,” Peter directed, making sure he made eye contact with each of us.
Rolling the window up, I began to wonder if someone from the hotel got their hands on the counterfeit plates or if they were even there. If they were there, it would have to be someone who had access to the room. Even though Emma had full access, I was pretty sure she didn’t take them. I was a pretty good judge of character and she just didn’t seem the type of person who would steal anything. And after speaking with Delores, it was pretty evident that Emma was one of her most trustworthy employees.
It was just after seven o’clock when we got to the Park Lane Hotel. As we stepped inside through the back entrance that the employees used, I looked over to where the Delores’ office was to find that she was not inside. Walking over to the employee lounge where the lockers were also located, I decided that this was a good time as any to check the lockers, at least the ones that didn’t have locks. Opening the unlocked doors, there was nothing of importance inside of them. Most of them were filled with snacks and extra uniforms. I would have to wait until Delores got in to check the remaining lockers. Hopefully the employees would cooperate and not demand a warrant to search their lockers.
Heading out the door to the lobby, I could see that the patrons of the hotel were already up and moving. Taking my place at the check-in desk, I simply scanned the area, anticipating anything out of the ordinary to happen. Unexpectedly, Emma entered the hotel carrying her bag close to her body. I hated to think about it, but the way she was carrying her bag, she certainly didn’t want it to get away from her. Leaving my post, I walked toward her, hoping that I could somehow get the bag away from her.
Her beautiful brown eyes met mine and a smile spread across her face. “Hey,” I said as I bent over and kissed her cheek.
“I guess the hotel still has added security,” she said hesitantly, her smile vanishing.
“Yeah,” I replied, looking down at her bag. “Let me carry that for you. It looks heavy.”
“Thanks,” she said, removing her bag from her shoulder and handing it over to me.
Slinging it over my shoulder, we walked together side by side to the hallway leading to the employee lounge. Shifting the bag slightly, I grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, letting Emma enter first. By the weight of the bag, she was packing something heavy. I couldn’t imagine what it could be. Walking to where the lockers were, Emma looked over her shoulder and said, “You can set my bag on the floor, I need to make a quick trip to the bathroom.”
Talk about getting a break. Setting the bag on the floor, I waited until she was out of view before I checked out the contents. Given that the coast was clear, I pulled back the zipper that seemed to be somewhat broken and began riffling through the contents. I found that the only reason the bag was so heavy was because she was packing several cans of refried beans and soup. Shaking my head in disbelief, I zipped the bag up and went over to the water machine away from the bag. As much as I wanted to question her about the canned items in her bag, I knew I couldn’t unless I wanted to rat myself out for checking out her stuff.